Thursday, March 31, 2011

Not that it was ever necessary - to apologize, that is. There was nothing wrong done there. Lubavitch does it too. Lubavitch has been delegitimatized. The Satmar Rov. zt"l, allowed leitzonus at the tish on Purim-Shushan Purim. It was the Zalis, not us. Get over it. You guys are waaaay too sensitive. You took the books out of Warsaw. You go to China just like Burger King does. The Holy Skverrer said Lubavitch was treyf. And the list goes on, and on, and on. But despite all that we never allowed it. It happened in our shul, with our leader giggling the whole time at the play, but we never allowed it. But we should've, cuz you guys are not legitimate anyway. But we didn't.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

A recent "HaMevaser" story on Reb Gedalia Segal, editor of "Der Yiddisher Shtral" in Yerushalayim and some of the stories that happened with him over the years. It seems like the Brisker Rov (Reb Velvel) was involved in all aspects of Jewish life in the Holy Land, even trying to minimize the Chassidishe influence in the literature of the day, and even revising a Chassidishe Mayse with the Holy Tchortkover that was not to his liking...

Monday, March 28, 2011

4 short audio clips of the late Rav Yoseph B. Soloveitchik of Boston. Each "microphone" is a link to another audio clip, which starts automatically. So if you're at work or some other place where you don't want people to know that you're "oofgeklert" and listen to the "Rav," lower your speakers volume BEFORE you click on the microphone. We learn several things from these clips, including the fact that the Rav hut keinmol kein "zemiros" nit gezogt."

Friday, March 25, 2011

~ GUEST POST ~ Read This First If You Haven't Yet. The drama is on. His eyes are wide open; a Heimishe yingerman’s olfactory receptor cells have picked up tantalizing scents of fresh intellectual pasture. He’s crushing for the world’s encompassing embrace.It’s not only sights and scents he’s after – after all, our protagonist has already touched another woman; a female with an open face to the world. On the other side, the cast includes his three sweet children. They are innocent girls. Their mother and community will not allow them to have a secular father. They are at stake of losing the pillar responsible for their creation. The plot: Should he abscond on his commitment to his wife, abandon his children and cripple his parents, or remain in an intellectual prison, contemplating suicide, paying hefty fees to a psychiatrist on retainer. The audience weighs in: Katla commiserates with our Yingerman. He warns that freedom is achieved only through the pain of the slave’s loss of a tooth and an eye, and that is only coupled with the consequence of discovering that Chaveirim won’t help you make pork cholent. Forward thinking Chazanteh, wary of suicidal tendencies, prods her newfound immigrant to join a refugee acclimation center. And Meyer Shimanowitz? He’s watching the game, keeping to himself, a slight smile on his face. Meanwhile… IT’S THE SUPER BOWL. Emblazed with the image of their idol, revved up fans shout as their adrenal medulla rushes to fill demand – bulging heroes plow on to define their careers; coaches are tense, shrewd marketing investors are watching stock results. Cheerleaders wave bright red pompoms in the air. It’s the most viewed event in the world; the passion, hopes, and commercial interests are huge. Now zoom in with us onto one little corner: Among the myriads of spectators, Mom, Dad, Steve, and Sheila - your all-American family - are seated at the Super Bowl. Steve’s a true fan. He eats, sleeps and thinks football. His temples are throbbing as he pumps his fists in the air while wearing the new cap and authentic NFL jersey that his mother just bought him. Dad, though, has become a skeptic. He grew up a Super Bowl fanatic and even named Steve after the great quarterback Steve Young, back when he was the league MVP in 1992. But as his hair started thinning and knowledge robbed him of his innocence, he awoke one day to discover that his Santa Claus was a sham. He sees through the Super-Bowl scam: He researched the data and logically concluded that he had been duped. “No more bullfighting for me,” he thinks as he adjusts his sound blocking headphones and buries his nose into The Confessions by Augustine. Then there is Sheila, forever the analyzer – she just observes. She sits quietly and analyzes the entire spectacle. She marvels at the agility of the athletes; she laughs at the antics of the fans, the shrewd ridiculousness of the advertising, the psychological structure of American culture, the brilliance of technology. Sheila really enjoyed the game. Last, but not least, there is Mom. She has only one thing in mind: her loving family. She adjusts her husband’s headphones. She admires her daughter’s analysis of the best advertising. Her motherly hand embraces Steve’s defeated shoulders as they trudge through the littered parking lot, while she waves to her Super-Bowl mom companions: “Cheers. What a game!” 111 million viewed the Super Bowl 2011. The Fan, The Skeptic and The Observer all watched the same event, but their game is hardly the same. The fan experiences his identity and his ego winning or losing. Our skeptic feels entrapped, forced to watch this farce. The Observer sees philosophical metaphors, business strategies, psychological insights, architectural design, etc. They might all be sitting near each other cheering in the same arena, but their ball is in different parks. Now, if you thought the point of this metaphor was to highlight the achievement of being The Observer, you are wrong. The real winner of the shpiel is our NFL mom. Being the Observer is cool – it’s definitely better than being an angry skeptic – but no one comes out better than our mommy. She is might not be the astute Observer, but she knows the ultimate truth: that bonding with her family is the true intent of the game Both the fool and the wise man play the same game, the difference is the fool may win his game while the wise man definitely wins his. And the skeptic… he remains lonely. IT’S YOUR WEEKLY TISH. There are those at the tish, there are those threatened by the tish, and there are those who analyze it – enjoying the entire spectrum of experiences, all the while shuckling along or eating arbes in the background. And then there are the Sports Moms. Oifgeklerte Yingel, Do you appreciate the naked simplicity of the Dani tribe of New Guinea? Does your mind romp over the rolling Mennonite farmlands? Do you ponder the complexity of Free Will in a deterministic universe? Won’t you then appreciate the beautiful simplicity of the Fervent Hasid? Won’t you wander through the narrow alleys of our upper-class ghettoes? Won’t you apply your knowledge of the complexity of free-will to the Rosh Hakhuel and the Rebbe? And won’t you then bond - like the sports mom – to that higher power we call ‘God’ that evolved it all into being? It’s all in your mind. Will you be a foolish fan, an angry skeptic, an enlightened observer or a connected mother? It’s yours, and your decision alone to choose whose role you play. Gandhi lived and said “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” Farveinter! You grapple with your commitment to the institution of marriage – but have you ever confronted your commitment to your spouse as a person? That same lack of commitment will follow you wherever your scent will lead you. You question how you can harm your parents who have done you no evil – implying that if they had done evil you would be justified to repay evil with evil – yet you claim to have found compassion for all creeds and cultures. As the wisened coarse Russians would oft say: Vu men loift geyin di beitzim mit. Katla claims we are in a culture that no slave has ever escaped from. You can take the Jew out of exile but you cannot take exile out of the Jew.But herein lies our solution. The more you remove the exile within you, the more you discover you were never in exile in the first place. By definition every culture is made up of habits and rules – most of them are foolish – and no culture has escaped the scathing wrath of its skeptics. Wise people, however, focus not on escaping cultures, rather on learning the rules to succeed through them. Your plot pivots around a theme of love. The observers know that once you learn the rules for successful marriage there is a distinct edge that our Heimishe lifestyle affords. The romance that secular writers can only fantasize about is at your fingertips. Heimishe women are focused on only one lover, if you cultivate the love between yourselves carefully, the tender glow of its warmth will comfort you deeply. Farveinter: All your knowledge of the outside world is from tourist-like visits. Sure, it would be great to live in a travel agency brochure and the fantasy that it all projects. And indeed, maybe you can live it up to a point, but as you will reach the point where you attempt to adopt it as a lifestyle, you’ll discover that it was all a mirage – and worse, that you’ve reached the point of no return. You might choose to be vengeful and determined to prove that you’ve succeeded. You might even be able to strut around promoting your success for the rest of your life. But your genetic upbringing will allow you no closure. Closure will only come with the shut of a lid, and the sounds of thumping dirt on a coffin …buried deep in the Wild West. Ultimately the gold is under your very own oven. You are not alone. If you do your networking you’ll find us; we hide under the bridges, near the pots of gold we envisioned in our dreams. No matter what your struggles are, remember; the searchers and seekers of the great vast universe are awaiting to embrace you. Meyer Shimanowitz

Thursday, March 24, 2011

An answer from the Rebbe about what to do about a student who brought a non-kosher book to school. You might say the Rebbe had a very "before its time" approach to these things, despite noting the sincerity/severity of the issue and how these things cannot be overlooked or ignored.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Blogger "KatleKanye" has been writing again, and it's something that maybe some of us can relate to... No, not me. I'm happily married, danken G-tt. There was a young Chasidishe Yungerman who wrote a letter to a column in the Yiddish language Forverts that they of course published for all to see. The column is called שאלות ותשובות בהלכות ליבע," and he apparently has a "leebe" question that he needs to ask of the Rov, er, Rebbetzin, er, Chazzan'te... He's married with 3 zeese techterlech, looks like he's a very frum yungerman, but he's really not. And now he realizes that he needs to cut ties with his wife and current life, because he's too open-minded and too truthful to live out his life as he is now. The problem as he sees it is twofold; 1) his kids will suffer growing up without a father, or with a stepfather, they should be so lucky. 2) he doesn't know how to go about meeting a new woman - does he do it as a frum yungerman, or does he do it like a man of the world? pressing questions, indeed, if ever there were such questions. Friends and acquaintances that he's spoken to have differing opinions as to what he should do - whether to stay or to go, and he says that the staus quo is "suicide," which worried the Chazzan'te to no end.

The advice disher-outer told him to go to Footsteps, Malkie Schwartz's (the ex-Lubavitcher) organization that supposedly helps young ex-chassidim get acclamated to general society. Which basically tells me how out of touch with frum society this Chazzante is. After all, if he's soooo open-minded I'm sure he knows of Footsteps. And besides, I doubt they can help him here, they usually help young kids who've been out on the streets, and claim that their lack of secular education is what's keeping him from succeeding. Out yungerman never mentioned his level of education, nor did he say whether or not he speaks English well. She's assuming that he's some dumb Hasid who needs help reading a street sign. Not very enlightened, if you ask me. Her, that is. I just don't get why he's kicking up such a fuss. Let him live like he is now. he may not know this, but he's not the only "intellectual out there." We all love the finer things in life, and most people just go through the motions anyway. One in a hundred is serious about Yiddishkeit and G-d. So why does he think that HE can't go on like this?! We should start a support group. he'd be shocked to find out how many of his contemporaries are just like him and managed just fine with a wife and kids - and grandkids - that shared not his "values."

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I find it odd that the Rebbe who opposed all sorts of undocumented Mayses about Rebbeim (even about the BESH"T and his students) related his own rescue to a supposed dream that happened to a Zionist leader who was not even an Orthodox Jew! The author attempts to obfuscate this fact by writing that Mrs. Fischer wore a sheitel and that they were related to the late Rosh beth Din of the Eda HaCh'redis in Jerusalem R. Yaakov Y. Fisher. (whose father himself served a "Status-Quo" Kehillo) Of course this does not change the hard facts on the ground that the Rebbe, his wife, daughter and son in law, and gabbe Reb Yosef Ashkenazi were rescued by the Zionist leaders in Hungary. (I'm informed that the daughter and son-in-law were NOT on the Sondertransport. - HT) I must admit that I found this book very interesting, enough so that I read it from cover to cover twice. Yet what it lacks is any tone of objectivity. Compared to this ArtScroll works are honest treatments of their subject matter.

Rabbi Meisels discusses the Rebbe's rabbinic career in Rumania and Hungary prior to the War. We do learn that he was Rav in Orshiva, Krole and finally in the large community of Satmar. We learn that he was both Rav and Rebbe. Yet his status as leader of the Sighet dynasty after his brother's death ( The "Atzei Chaim" of Sighet - HT) is left a tad cloudy. But what the author fails to mention is that in most places RJT lived in major disputes broke out. After deciding to leave Krole for Satmar a massive machlokes broke out between 2 rival rabbinic candidates, one a cousin of the Rebbe, another a son in law of the Spinker Rebbe, (Reb Abish Horowitz, HY"D, father of Reb Hershelle Spinker - HT) who was the leader of the 3rd largest Chasidic grouping in Hungary-Rumania. This was a violent struggle which has been documented and involved many other Rabbis. RJT first arrived in Satmar in 1934, years after he was supposedly elected as chief rabbi of this large mainly Ashkenazi community. Here too there were any number of serious opponents to his rabbinate grouped about the Tashnader Rav, and it was only after several years of violent struggle that he finally was able to assume the rabbinate there.

In Satmar itself the Rebbe was invovled in wars against rival chassidic dynasties. For example he demanded that the Zaddik Rav Aren Roth leave Satmar as he was opposed to his derech. R. Roth relocated to Beregsaz. I must note that today we identify the Toldos Aron Chassidic communtiy with Satmar , but that only came about because Rav Arele was followed by his son-in-law RebAbraham Itzhak Kohn who was a disciple of RJT. It was only Rabbi Kohn who emphasized anti Zionism in this community. It is clear that RJT embarked on a path to acheive hegemony over the rabbinic community in Northern Transylvania, inserting relatives in many key rabbinic slots such as the appointment of his nephew in law Rav YY Halberstam as Rav of the new Chasidic community in the large city of Klausenberg. Althought he book does not discuss it, it seems that following the death of the Munkatcher Rav in the late 1930's RJT became the dominant local Chasidic Rebbe in Hungary. Of course men like the Belzer Rav exerted much influence from their seats in Poland over the Hungarian Chasidic community as well.

The book also presents misleading information about the attitudes of various gedolim to the policies of RJT. While the volume discusses the Satmar demonstrations in NYC in the early 1950's it fails to note that these demonstratons were attacked by among others Rabbi Eliezer Silver (who called for the Cherem on RJT) the President of the Agudath Ho-Rabbonim and Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin the head of Ezrath Torah and the posek for most of American Jewry. Even Rav Aaron Kolter was upset by the tone of some of these public demonstrations. Both were livid and outraged by the Satmar tactics and neither was ever identified with Zionism themselves. This chapter in Satmar history receives a more objective treatment in a small Yiddish book written DER REBBE UND DER SATAN by the late Chaim Lieberman (not to be confused with the secretary of the Rayatz).On page 508-509 we are presented with evidence "ke'illu" Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky was so influenced by RJT's books that he changed his mind after reading them. . Well as far as I can recall Reb Yankev remained a member of the Agudas Israel his whole life and was a member of it's Council of Torah sages. Even more so we are told in a obituary for the same Mr. Lieberman that Reb Yankev considered him one of Americ's most erliche yidden! Clearly Rav Yaakov knew about Lieberman's works.

Even more outrageous is a depiction on page 506 about the attitude of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik to RJT. Its states " You must know that since the Satmar Rebbe came to America every Jew has become more religious, myself included" It takes real chutzpah to write this. The footnote for this note is self referential no source less than Rabbi Dovid Meisels. Now that is truly unusual an author using himself as a source! As far as I can tell the Rav was religious prior to the coming of RJT, and that men like his father, uncle, and grandfather were more profound influences of his religious personality than a Rebbe he probably never met. I doubt the Rav ever mentions the Rebbe or even the Yetev Lev or Yismach Moshe. On page 508 we are treated to a story that the Skulener Rebbe, Rabbi Eliezer Zishe Portugal went blind because he disregarded the position of RJT about praying at the Kossel Maaravi. Can anyone believe that Hashem would do such a thing to such a tzaddik for such an action? It boggles the mind especially in regards the posotion of RJT to mofsim by Rebbes in our day.

On page 268 the author treats us to a new unfounded accusation that the leader of the Palestinian Aguda Rabbi Moshe Blau was poisoned. Again, if the author has evidence he ought to present it in detail, but I doubt the Chofetz Chaim would approve of such unfounded charges. On pages 462-464 the author discusses RJT's position as to the formal education of Jewish girls in regards Jewish studies In Europe the Rebbe was strictly opposed to such, yet in the US he opened up his own girl's school. The author writes "It was not a change of position but a change of situation." The sub headings in this chapter include such titles as "changing times" and " The New Reality." This is all very interesting, as the Rebbe used this sort of thinking to justify girls' schools and drop his opposition to sheitlech. Yet when it came to Israel and Zionism he failed to see that after 1945 times had changed and there was a new reality. 6 million Jews had been killed, The thousand-year Jewish civilization in Europe was destroyed. Close to 1 million homeless Jews were stranded in Eastern Europe. Yet the Rebbe did not see the change of situation and insisted on no change of position. One wonders what the Rebbe's position was as to regarsd the future of the close to half million Hungarain-Rumanian survivors in 1945. Where were they supposed to renew their lives in Communist Rumania? in Chile? in Denmark? or were they supposed to smuggle themselves into Meah Shearim despite British White papers? Let me note that America had strict quotas concerning the number of DP Jews admitted from Eastern Europe right after the war, and in fact hundreds of thousands of survviors from Northern Rumania made their way to Israel from 1950-1965, and many resumed their Orthodox lifestyle.

I must note that while the Kluizenberger Rav and others were actually in the DP camps trying to revive Jewish life, The Rebbe left Israel to the US, (and made - HT) no stop in the DP camps. Among the Rabbinic figures who visited the DP camps were Chief Rabbi Herzog, Rav Eliezer Silver, Kriniker Rav Rabbi Mishikovsky, Rabbi Pinchos Wohlgelernter and last but not least the shliach meyuchad of the Rebbe Rayatz, his son in law Rabbi S. Gourary. Although Rav M. Schneerson was in Paris after the war on a private matter, he too used the opportunity to address the survivors of the Lubavitch community then stranded in France. Without doubt the (Satmar - HT) Rebbe was a great Jewish leader and he played a major role - if not the dominant role - in transplanting Eastern European Jewish life to the US. He stressed the need to retain the clothing, the food , the language and the complete east European Jewish personality. In this manner he set the gold standard, by which other Chasidic and ultra- Orthodox groups viewed their own identities. And yes, he accomplished much and did influence the religious attitudes of many American Jews. Yet his opposition to the new reality of the State of Israel, to the fact that its creation and existence was an endless succession of miracles and that as emphasized by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Israel was a makom miklat for millions of Jews; and their safety could not be placed in danger by demonstrations, newspaper ads and prayers for a so called peaceful end to Israel. (how so by a mass emigration to Monroe or Antwerp?).

After years of following the career of RJT and reading much by him and about him , I sense that RJT's chief interest was the transmission of Eastern European Jewish life and the only manner he thought he could do this is by being completely negative about Israel. Thus he adopted a hard line against Hebrew, and this did in fact enable 3 Yiddish weeklies to thrive in New York. He was against Israel, hence his followers lived in the golah where diaspora type Jewish culture had more of a chance. This book deserves to be read, as it depicts one of the most important Jewish religious personalities of the 20th centuries. But it must be read in conjunction with other volumes giving a more multi dimensional portrait of RJT as well as a more objective treatment of the manner gedolim viewed Zionism and Israel after the Holocaust.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Reviewed by Schneur. Welcome Back, Schneur. We hope to hear lots more from you.

This book represents another first in Orthodox publications in the U.S. An English language biography of the Satmarer Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum who died in 1979 (I will refer to him as RJT ). Although the late Yosef Weisshaus published a book called "The Rebbe" in English about the Satmarer Rebbe in 2008, it was more of a compilation of Minhagim and hashkafos of the Rebbe , rather than an attempt at a full scale biography of the Rebbe. There have also been several academic articles about the Rebbe in English, including an important one by Rabbi Alan Nadler in Judaism Magazine. What makes an English language biography of RJT unusual is the fact that he was a vocal opponent of the use of the English language by his followers and insisted that they speak Yiddish, thus one is left with the impression that this book is not aimed at the Satmarer community nor at those Hungarian kehilloth in orbit around Satmar like Kashau, Pupa or Krasna. They too have adopted a hard line against the use of the English language. Hence the biography is aimed at those sectors of the Orthodox community who use English and are capable of reading a long English book, most likely the book is aimed at the so-called "Yeshivishe" community, which in recent years has a shown a new sympathy to the Satmarer Rebbe's position on Zionism and Israel, (probably based on the sympathy the Brisker school has to anti-Zionism) although they continue to reject his positions on Yiddish, Derech Halimmud (Talmudic methodology) and issues of Tzeniuth, (Modesty) as these would necessitate life style changes and a different course of religious studies. which obviously they are not interested in doing.

The author Rabbi Meisels has published any number of pamphlets in English about various Jewish holidays and customs which have in general been ignored by the Orthodox Jewish community. His grandfather was the alte Vaitzener Rov of Chicago who was a cousin of the Satmar Rebbe. The title pages informs us that the book was not actually written by the author in English but was translated by Reb Yirmiyahu Cohen who has been identified as an American Neturei Karta ("Natruna," actually - HT) activist. As most historically important personalities RJT was a complex character. This volume emphasizes his war against Zionism and the State of Israel and his role in creating a powerful and strong Chasidic community in the US. The volume also depicts his early life and family background as well as his life in Rumania (Satmar changed political designations in the 20th century going between Hungary and Rumania) prior to World War 2. The most interesting part of the book is the depiction of the efforts of RJT in building the Satmar community in the US after his arrival here in 1947. With a fair amount of detail the author depicts the Satmar schools, summer camps, kashruth organization, Yeshivoth, girls schools and the community of Kiryath Joel, all created by RJT We are introduced to the problems the Rebbe faced such as the loss of religious behavior by many of the Concentration Camp survivors even those from Hungary. Rabbi Meisels does not refrain from mentioning that the Rebbe, whose motto was the refrain of the Chasam Sopher "Chodosh Assur Min haTorah," (New innovations are forbidden by the Torah) actually himself introduced significant modifications in the communal structure. thus he introduced secular studies in the Satmar elementary schools and later even in high schools. More importantly he created schools for girls , something that not only did not exist in greater Hungary prior to 1944, but was fought by the Rebbe and other Chasidic gedolim like the Belzer Rav in Galicia. Yet the Rebbe was adept enough to sense that America was different than Rumania or Hungary and secular studies were required here an dwomen needed some form of formal Jewish education.

Of course he faced opposition here , but his personality was so dominant that he overwhelmed men like the the Krasner Rav, Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein, and other kanoim who opposed anything new except for modern technology. The author also introduces us to the Rebbe's key assistants, men like R. Lippa Friedman , Sender Deutsch (I i wish he discussed his role in more detail) Mr. Hertz Frankel, and R. Yudel Rosenberg, who ran the Satmar summer camps and Matzo bakeries. R. Meisels also details the Rebbe's opposition to Zionism and to the state of Israel in detail. By now we all know about RJT's attitude agaisnt Zionism and Israel, so there is little new here. While Meisels stresses the role the Gimmel Shevuoth played in forming the Rebbe's ideological basis for this policy, he does not really detail the theoretical aspects of this thinking. Nor does he present an even handed depiction of a very lively debate concerning the halachic status of the Gimmel Shevuoth with gedolim taking various positions. He seems to be unaware that the chozer Rav Yoel Kahan wrote a refuation of the position of RJT. What is clear though is that the position of the Satmarer Rebbe and his Hungarain Rabbinic associates was not the universally accepted position at any time and certainly was a Daas Yachid after the brutal destruction of European Jewry by the Germans between 1939- 1945. Clearly after 1945 the Belzer Rav, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Gerrer Rebbe and others dropped their opposition to the idea of Israel and sought to work to create a Jewish basis for the state. [I was looking at the new biography of Rav Lopian called REB ELAH, and it states that Rav Lopian held those who did not vote in municipal elections responsible for the decress of Mixed swimming pools in Jerusalem.] R. Meisels does discuss the Rebbe's rescue in 1944 . On page 114 he attributes the Rebbe's rescue to the fact that the mother of the Zionist leader, Dr. Fischer,, appeared to to him in a dream and ordered him to rescue the Rebbe, which meant including him on the list of those to be included in the Kasztner transport. It ought to be noted that this whole project was a Zionist sponsored project and Fischer, Kasztner and other were all Zionist leaders.

Monday, March 7, 2011

We spoke about VIN and how they're hanging on for dear life. I was tolds by people who claim to be in the know that it's no coincidence that the tone has changed recently, especially as far as comments are concerned, and we saw how they've stopped reporting on scandals in the frum community, both political and otherwise, ahem. Or at least so we thought. Then there was an arrest in the frum community last week, and there it was, on VosIzNeias, with all the details! Then they removed the names, but they left the family name in one place for anybody to see and do a quick search in Google News.... So what happened? Did they have a change of heart, are they back to their old, semi-evil ways (initials or no names, but obviously a frum person) now that they see that readership is down, since the content is not as excting as it used to be? But then I realized! Despite the fact that these are frum people, even Torah'dikke Mishpoches, they're not Hymish. The kids probably don't speak Yiddish, the women drive, the kids play basketball in their driveways, and the all-important shtreimel doesn't adorn the farchup'te head of the father. Oy Lanu. But most of all these people don't have bands of terrorists calling and harassing Rabbonim about the evils of the day, and they don't harass Mosdos who advertise with sites such as VIN. So they're fair game. Their blood isn't red.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The periodical Or Hatzafon, published by Belz in Yerushalayim, that recently incurred the wrath of the Satmar Chassidim for daring to say that the previous Belzer Rov was correct in changing his approach to Zionism and the State of Israel, , even when it seemed different pre-ww2, at least as far as looking out for the welfare of our fellow Yidden. Read on, you'll see what I mean.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The periodical Or Hatzafon, published by Belz in Yerushalayim, that recently incurred the wrath of the Satmar Chassidim for daring to say that the previous Belzer Rov was correct in changing his approach to Zionism and the State of Israel, and that, ultimately, this was always the Belzer approach, even when it seemed different pre-ww2, at least as far as looking out for the welfare of our fellow Yidden. Read on.

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About Me

א יונגערמאן אין עולם הזה trying to do what's right. The purpose of this blog was to provide a counter opinion to the Chabad bashing that is so prevalent in blogosphere. I hope I've accomplished that objective. This is the blog for you if you have a decent knowledge of Jewish history and current events.